Welcome to the Family!
/Loretta is the proud mama to three, big, beautiful puppies! Ryno Kennel welcomed two boys and one girl to the RK Team on Tuesday. Any ideas for names?
A bit more background on the parents:
Loretta is from Hey Moose! Kennel. She’s a mix of King and Scheer lines, and Loretta (as well as her littermates) have had great success in the racing world. One thing we look at when selecting potential parents is the success of the entire litter. Is just the dog an individual rockstar or does the whole litter stand out? In Loretta’s case, Loretta, Dolly, Cooke, Smoky, Otis, Hank, Buck (and several others) are all proven race athletes. Loretta has also had one litter before. All of her offspring will be racing with either Brent Sass or Tom Frode Johansen in the 2020 Iditarod, and a few just finished in Brent’s champion Yukon Quest team. As you can see, there is a lot of potential in her genetics!
Wingman is a Ryno Kennel standout. He’s a smooth mover, aggressive eater, and the biggest cheerleader on the team. He’d be happily barking and wagging his tail every time we left or arrived at a checkpoint. His litter doesn’t have quite as high of a success rate as Loretta’s litter, but there are still several strong thousand-mile athletes, mostly in Riley Dyche’s team. Also, there is a sentimental element to Wingman. He’s Fire’s grandson. For longtime kennel followers, you’ll probably recognize Fire’s name. She was THE LEADER of Ryno Kennel for our first few years. She led my entire rookie Yukon Quest and was a big reason for our successful Copper Basin finishes. And she’s literally the best leader I’ve ever met. She wants to be in lead. Nothing deterrs her. At ten years and 6 months, she’s the oldest dog at Ryno Kennel right now. These puppies are her great grandpups. Nowadays, Fire lives the good life mostly sleeping inside and running the occasional tour.
